Biranvand was included in the list of the best in Asia / AFC announced the candidates for 2026

The Asian Football Confederation announced the list of candidates for the 2026 awards and four Iranian figures are present in different sections of this competition.

The Asian Football Confederation published the names of the candidates for the best of the continent in 2026, in which Iran is represented in the categories of the best Asian player of the year (Alireza Biranvand), Asian futsal player of the year (Hossein Tayibi and Saeed Ahmad Abbasi) and women's coach of the year (Marzieh Jafari). Also, the Iranian Football Federation has been nominated in the AFC Chairman's Appreciation Award for Basic Football (Gold).

The full list of nominees for the 2026 AFC Bangkok Awards is as follows:

Alireza Biranvand (Tractor Club and Iran National Team)

Firas Al-Barikan (Al-Ahly of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi national team)

Salem Al-Dossari (Al-Hilal Club and Saudi Arabia National Team)

Holly McNamara (Melbourne City [Australia]/Everton [England] and Australia)

Kim Kyung-young (Naeguhyang Women's Football Club [PRK] and PRK)

Kim Hye Ri (Wuhan Jiangda Women's Football Club [CHN]/Suwon FC Women [KOR] and KOR)

Asian International Player of the Year (Men)

Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord Rotterdam Netherlands / Lille France and Japan national team)

Hwang In Beom (Feyenoord Rotterdam [NED]/FC Porto [POR] and KOR)

Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain/Atletico Madrid)

Asian International Player of the Year (Women)

Alana Kennedy (London City Lions [England] and Australia)

Caitlin Ford (Arsenal Women's Team [England] and Australia)

Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City Women [England] and Japan)

Hossein Tayibi (the jewel of the land and the Iranian national team)

Saeed Ahmad Abbasi (Getty Pasand and Iran National Team)

Mohamed Asamanmusa (Cartagena [ESP] and Thailand national team)

Joseph Montemorrow (Australian Women and Australia)

Go Kuroda (Machida Zeluya Football Club and Japan)

Sadayoshi Shirai (Japan women under 17)

Ma Xiaochu (China national under-17 team)

Marzieh Jafari (Women's Badminton and Iran National Team)

Park Yoon-jeong (South Korea under-20 women and South Korea national team)

Maki Kitahara (FC Tokyo and Japan national team)

Rion Ichihara (Alkmaar Netherlands and Japan national team)

Ryunosuke Sato (FC Tokyo, Valencia and the Japanese national team)

Kim Won Sim (Pyongyang and North Korea International Football School)

Yoo Jong Hyang (North Korea SC and North Korea National Team)

Noah Fukushima (Fukushima Academy and Japan)

Saudi Arabian Football Federation

AFC President's Appreciation Award for Grassroots Football (Gold)

Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran

AFC President's Appreciation Award for Grassroots Football (Silver)

AFC President's Appreciation Award for Grassroots Football (Bronze)

Appreciation Award for hosting the Asian Women's Nations Cup from AFC

The recipient will be announced during a ceremony.